Re-Edit Blog: Final Task

Today is Friday, March 20th, and as of currently I am on track to complete my Final Task. As I shared in the previous blog, I have encountered some unexpected and unavoidable delays. For instance, the spread of COVOID-19 has left me at home self-isolating to prevent myself from contracting the virus. Additionally, the virus has left many without necessary items or jobs. As such, my parents are worried and preparing, leaving them very little time reshoot certain scenes. As such all I can from home is continue editing and perfecting my Final Product in the post-production process. A few weeks ago, I wrote a peer-review blog regarding an early stage of my video. In the blog I discussed the process of the peer review and how I specifically graded some else early stage draft. However, I was also given feed-back regarding my film, as well as, some necessary changes that needed to happen. I have only recently implemented these changes.

As stated previously, I have only reviewed the critiques and implemented the changes recently. As such, I will list the changes that I have made. To begin with, there was an incident in the filming process where the equipment, my hand, was visible. It can be seen in the picture above. In order to adjust this I had to crop the video. I found this to be difficult, however, because in the preview certain clips would be different sizes. This meant the video would have black bars in some places. Eventually, I fount the option to crop the video instead of trimming and it seems to have fixed the issue. Another situation that was outlined in the peer-review was my lack of certain shots. For instance, I was missing an establishing shot, a tilt, and a medium shot. I plan to address and implement these changes once I have done my re-shoot. To end on a positive note, the peer-review outlined some things that I did right. My draft was within the proper time limit, I placed the titles in the correct order, my transitions weren't choppy, and my edits did not take away from the sequence.

Editing Blog: Summary of Delays and Final Editing

Today is March 19th, 2020 and as of currently I am almost finished with the first draft of my Final Product. This month has become a crazy one, with the spread of the coronavirus along the mainland United States. As such, there has been some delays in the production of Final Product. For instance, I planned on  reshooting certain scenes on the dock but this has been postponed until things have settled down. We have been advised by the federal and local government to stay inside and maintain social distancing. Another setback that I have encountered is how busy my actors are. As of currently, my mom, Kelly, is busy making sure we have the necessary items we need in a prolonged quarantine. Additionally, my dad, John, is sustaining his business and is currently out of the house. Until then, I will likely be unable to reshoot. Despite this reality, I am still on track to finish my Final Task on the set due date.

Now back on track, the focus of today's blog is the editing process. In the precious blogs I discussed how I had done some basic editing: color grading, music additions, and transitions. In the past few days I have been working on adding titles and animations. Final Cut Pro, the software I am using to edit, has various options that I can add for the titles. For example, in terms of the text I can change the tracking, line spacing, kerning, and the horizontal/vertical alignment. Additionally, I can add animations to these titles. For instance, I can make the text separate, fade in/out, wipe in/out, burn in/out etc. For my Final Product, I choose to do simple fade ins/outs in order to follow the conventions of the thriller genre. Finally, I also exported my first draft of my Final Product. I saved the files as a Master File in order for it to be compatible on both Windows and Apple devices. Lastly, I saved the files to both Google Drives and a portable hardrive. This was incase the files became corrupted or I did not have access to my laptop.

Editing Blog: Organizing Footage and Basic Editing

Today is March 12th, 2020 and as of currently I am on the second stage of editing. In the previous blog I discussed the process of dumping the footage and the requirements for the Final Task. In summary I used two separate devices, a GoPro and my iPhone, which each required different ways of dumping. I then created separate folders on my desktop as a location for the footage. Additionally to the dumping, some of the requirements I talked about duration, the titles, and the quality. In today’s blog I want to discuss organizing the footage for my Final Task and the basic edits that I have done wish to do.

To begin with, the organization of my Final Task is an important part of my Final Task. I wish for my Final Task to tell a story. The pitch I created details a family going out on their boat and the son being attacked by a shark. The telling of the story can be told through making the scenes follow each other chronologically. For instance, since my story involves going out on the water, I want to first discuss the preparation involved. Then, I want to transition to releasing lines and pushing of the dock. Next, I want to show the boat heading out into the ocean through the wake and the driver. Fourth, I want to show how the son is on the tube and being flipped over. This until finally, the shark comes into view and it is implied the son is dragged under. The chronology of the scenes will also be tied into the pace of the music. In the beginning the music will fade in at a soft tone. Towards the midpoint of the film, the music will pick up pace and the tone will become slowly suspenseful. In the concluding scenes, the music will be at its loudest point to build tension when the shark is introduced.

Additionally, there are a few basic edits that I have included into the Final Task. I have decided to using the square flipping transition as it is commonly used in my genre of film and in industry. I want to make sure these are not choppy and do not take away from the aspect of the film. I also want to color correct the water color. This is due to the fact different scenes were filmed in different locations, so I want to try and make the colors match. Finally, I want to build suspense by adding fade ins and outs to the music.

Editing Blog: Requirements and Dumping

Today is March 9th, 2020 as of currently I am on track to complete my Final Task at the set due date. I have finished filming all necessary scenes for the opening sequence, and successfully accomplished all the pre-production requirements. However, now I need to begin the editing. When filming, I used two separate devices: my GoPro and my IPhone. The GoPro was specifically used to capture wide shots, as-well as close ups. The GoPro used a spectate SD card, to be specific a micro SD, which had to be plugged into the computer using an adapter. On the SD card there was approximately 30-40 videos all ranging in duration from 0:05 to 0:20 respectively. Once all the footage appeared, when then created a folder named "GoPro footage" on my desktop. All the clips were then dragged to the the desktop and the SD card was ejected. Similarly, for the iPhone we created another folder named "iPhone footage." This mainly consisted of long shots as-well as panning/tilt shots. Overall, the dumping process was unproblematic and went smoothly.

Another important aspect I want to discuss is the requirements for the Final Task. My Final Task, involves a family going boating when they are are attacked by a Great White Shark. Ideally, I wished for my Final Task to be between 1:50 and 2:00. Furthermore, titles also needed to be included. There needs to be a minimum of 10 titles, with specific conventions of the industry being followed. To begin with, "______ presents" and "a ______ film" needed to be the first two titles of the opening sequence  Also, "Directed by ______" needed to be the last title of the sequence. Finally, the titles needed to be evenly spread out with set durations, for example 5 seconds. All in all, I have prepared my footage and I am very familiar with requirements of the opening sequence, which means I should be able to begin editing.

Peer Review Blog: Constructive Criticism

What is one thing you REALLY liked about the film?

Overall I really enjoyed the film this group put together. Specifically I enjoyed how they were able to tie in all of the elements of the genre into the opening sequence. The film is about a boy being drafted to the U.S military and having to say goodbye to his family. It is apart of the tragedy film genre and incorporates a lot of the conventions. For example, regarding the lighting, it is very well throughout. Everything is visible and nothing is too bright or dark. Another element that was well incorporated was the sound. Most things could be heard, the sound level was even, and there was no sharp changes in sound that were unnatural. Furthermore, the movie included various shots/angles/movements that were needed to satisfy the genre and the requirements. For example, an establishing shot, close up, medium shot, low angles, and over-the-shoulder shot could all be seen, just to name a few. Finally, I really enjoyed the titles. They were evenly spaced and legible is all scenes.

What is one suggestion you would make to the film?

Despite the film being overall very well produced, there are a few suggestions I would make to the creators. A glaring issue is the duration of the film. As of currently, the film lasts approximately 2 minutes and 25 seconds. This is well above the guidelines of 1:50-2:00. I would cut the beginning scenes of pulling into the drive away and other aspects in order to shorten the film. Another issue was how loud the dialogue was. I would recommend the creators increase the sound of the dialogue in order to make it understandable. However, a quick disclaimer, I was in a noisy room and this may been apart of the reason it was hard to ear. Overall, I believed the film this group produced was very well made and only needs minor corrections.